1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to the field of automatic baiting devices for long line commercial fishing gear. More particularly, the present invention is directed to precision baiters which prepare bait for baiting hooks and attach said prepared bait onto said hooks.
2. Description of Prior Art
Long line fishing gear is a type of fishing gear used by commercial fishermen to catch bottom feeding fish. Long line gear includes a ground line, two or more buoy lines attached at least at the ends of the ground line, buoys attached to the ends of the buoy lines, two or more anchors attached at least at the ends of the ground line, and a plurality of leaders attached to the ground line, with each leader comprised of a gangion, which attaches at one end to the ground line, and a barbed hook, which is attached to the other end of the gangion. The ground line itself is typically a nylon rope having a length of anywhere from several hundred yards to several miles. The gangions are typically made of monofilament nylon having a tensile strength somewhat less than the tensile strength of the ground line, so that if a hook snags or is taken by an overlarge fish the gangion will break before the ground line. The number and spacing of the gangions on the ground line depends on the type of fish being sought, as does the length of the gangions. For example, when fishing for hake, the gangions are typically spaced four feet apart and are each 20 inches long. When fishing for cod, on the other hand, the gangions are typically spaced six feet apart and are each 30 inches long; and when fishing for halibut the gangions are typically spaced twelve feet apart and are each five feet long. The gangions may be permanently attached to the ground line (such is known as “fixed gear”) or they may be removable from the ground line (such is known as “snap-on gear”).
To fish using long line gear, the following procedure is typically followed. First, the buoy line with buoy is let out and deployed from a fishing boat. Then an anchor is set, fixing one end of the ground line to the ocean floor. The remaining length of ground line is then set by the fishing boat moving away from the first anchor. The second anchor is then set, fixing the second end of the ground line to the ocean floor. The second buoy line and buoy are then deployed. If the ground line is particularly long, additional anchors, marked with buoys attached to buoy lines, may be deployed along its length. After an appropriate period of time, the fishing boat returns to an end of the ground line, retrieves the buoy line and takes up the ground line. Any fish that are caught on the hooks are removed as the ground line is hauled onto the fishing boat.
Before the ground line is deployed, the hooks at the end of each of the gangions need to be baited. Historically, this was done by hand, which was a slow, tedious, and dangerous operation. Over the past several decades mechanized or automatic baiting has been developed, allowing the more rapid and safer baiting of hooks. These devices typically apply the bait to the hooks as the ground line is being deployed by the fishing boat. That is, the ground line is passed through a mechanized baiting apparatus as it is deployed into the ocean, with the bait attaching to the hooks as the hooks pass through the device.
The most common type of mechanized baiting device is a snag baiter. A snag baiter places a quantity of bait (cut or uncut) into a container and then draws the hooks through the container and the mass of bait. The hooks pierce pieces of bait as they pass by (“snagging” the bait). While snag baiters employ a fairly simple design, they have the serious deficiency of not ensuring that any given piece of bait is securely affixed to the hook. Because the impact of the hook with the bait is haphazard, the hook may not fully penetrate the piece of bait, or it may pierce a weakened portion of the bait, resulting in the bait falling off the hook. Or the hook may not pierce any bait at all, merely pushing through the mass of bait without affixing any single piece. As such, snag baiters may leave many hooks unbaited, or worse, poorly baited, whereby the bait comes off the hook after the ground line is deployed, resulting in an unbaited hook and the loss of the bait.
Another type of mechanized baiting device is a precision baiter. A precision baiter places individual piece of bait in the direct path of the moving hooks. The path of the hooks is precisely defined, and the position of the bait is exact. This ensures that the hook will engage the bait in the proper location, and that all hooks will receive bait. However, precision baiters known in the art also have suffered from deficiencies, primarily as to how to properly deliver appropriately sized bait to the proper location for baiting. Most rely on precutting the bait, which is time consuming.
In addition, all known mechanized baiting devices can act on only a single length of ground line at a time. This greatly limits the overall length of the ground line to whatever can be stored on deck and fed into the device. If multiple lengths of shorter ground line are used, the baiting device must be turned off in order to attach the new length of ground line to the ground line that has already been baited and deployed. This is not only inefficient but also impractical to accomplish, as the movement of the fishing boat also must be altered to prevent further deployment of the ground line during the attachment process. It is therefore very difficult to use multiple lengths of ground line with known mechanical baiting devices.
It is therefore demonstrated that there is a need for a mechanical baiting device that has a high degree of baiting efficiency while also allowing for a minimum of preparation of the bait.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an improved automatic precision baiting apparatus.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved automatic precision baiting apparatus that ensures each hook is properly set into an appropriately prepared piece of bait.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an improved automatic precision baiting apparatus that does not require precut bait but rather cuts the bait to desired sizes automatically.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an improved automatic precision baiting apparatus that adapts to different forms of bait, such as fresh and frozen, when cutting the bait.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an improved automatic precision baiting apparatus that allows for multiple lengths of ground lines to be stored and available for use without taking up an excessive amount of fishing boat deck space.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an improved automatic precision baiting apparatus that allows for multiple lengths of ground line to be baited without interrupting the baiting process.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an improved automatic precision baiting apparatus that comprises a double sided baiting path, for greater efficiency.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an improved automatic precision baiting apparatus that allows for multiple magazines to organize and store gangions without tangling.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an improved automatic precision baiting apparatus that allows for differently spaced gangions to be used on a ground line.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an improved automatic precision baiting apparatus that allows for different length gangions to be used on a ground line.
Other objects of the present invention will be readily apparent from the description that follows.